Last night was one of those frustrating / inspiring experiences that happens often in Herrang, where you have the most amazing band playing your favorite song, a roomful of the best lindy dancers in the world -- and you can't dance.

The Carling Family Band is perhaps the quintessential lindy hop band. They are all incredibly talented musicians and they play some of the hardest swinging tunes ever. They clearly love lindy hoppers and hoofers, inviting them up on stage, calling out people in the audience, and hanging out with us later in the bar. Gunhild, the front person for the band, plays like EVERY instrument, sings beautifully, and taps like a madwoman.

And yet I didn't dance.

First off, I was dead tired from organizing and dancing in a hip-hop open jam for an hour just prior to the concert. Breaking and lindy hop don't mix, kids! Well they do, but my body was wreck after doing both for a couple of hours.

I haven't been feeling well in general, so been operating at about 65-70% overall. I'm trying to avoid the dreaded "Herrang Flu" that takes out hundreds of campers every year.

And even if I had the energy to dance, the dance floor was jam packed with crazy lindy hoppers. It was more of a slam dance than a lindy hop dance, frankly. Luckily, most people are cool about it, but you can only take so many dance collisions before somebody loses a limb or an organ. And I'm a small dude surrounded by giant Swedes and Germans.

Oh did I mention that the dance floor was slick as oil? Somehow powder has been getting on the already very fast ballroom floor in the Folkets Hus, making every move treacherous and every spin an unintential triple.

I am complaining, but honestly I had a really great time just listening to the band and enjoying all the cool performances during the sets. Ronny is a consummate hoofer who just killed it on stage.